Heartstopper in the Tardis

❉ Yasmin Finney joins the cast of Doctor Who playing the character of Rose. But which Rose? ‘Who’ knows!

“If anyone would have told 8 year old Yasmin that one day she’d be part of this iconic show, I would have never in a million years believed them. This show has a place in so many people’s hearts, so to be seen as a trans actress by the legend himself Russell, has not only made my year, it’s made my life. I cannot wait to begin this journey and for you all to see how Rose blossoms. Get Ready.” – Yasmin Finney

Unlike the Chibnall era of Doctor Who, where nothing was announced unless needed to try and keep spoilers under wraps, in the first few weeks of production of the RTD2 era, we are being spoiled with news.  Hot on the heels of the confirmation that David Tennant and Catherine Tate are to return for the series’ sixtieth anniversary, comes the latest news as Heartstopper’s Yasmin Finney is announced as joining the diamond anniversary celebration of Doctor Who to play a character named “Rose”.

Finney is known for her role as Elle Argent in Netflix’s outstanding and highly lauded queer YA series Heartstopper, a show I must admit I am guilty of so far watching seven times, and after this announcement probably eight by the time you are reading this.

The announcement followed the new formula of cryptic emojis being posted on Instagram by an actor and Bad Wolf, and then an hour later an official announcement from the Doctor Who Twitter account.

In the official press release, Yasmin says of joining Doctor Who: “If anyone would have told 8 year old Yasmin that one day she’d be part of this iconic show, I would have never in a million years believed them. This show has a place in so many people’s hearts, so to be seen as a trans actress by the legend himself Russell, has not only made my year, it’s made my life. I cannot wait to begin this journey and for you all to see how Rose blossoms. Get Ready.”

The casting of a trans woman in the show may not be a surprise to all of you, as many may remember that back in March a casting director known for working on Doctor Who put out a call for a mixed race teenage trans woman, though the name used then was Lily, not too far away from the name of Rose we now understand this character to have.

But what could all this mean, Russell’s quote on the announcement lead to his usual confusion of hints, to keep us on his toes: “Life on Doctor Who gets brighter and wilder, how can there be another Rose?  You’ll find out in 2023!” Theories abound, that she could be a parallel universe Rose Tyler, or the child of Shaun and Donna Temple-Noble, which would mean that Catherine Tate is reprising her role post-End of Time, which was arguably hinted at by Russell during their announcement on Sunday.

As the audio series Doctor Who Redacted  and Stranded has shown us, trans characters thrive in the universe, with deep characters and brilliant writing which we know that Russell, just like Juno Dawson can provide.

This is an exciting time to be a Who fan, at the overlap in the venn diagram of the old era and the new era, we really never know what we are going to learn next, and gosh, isn’t it exciting!


❉ Read the official announcement here: https://www.doctorwho.tv/news-and-features/yasmin-finney-joins-doctor-who-cast

Andrew Creak is a freelancer in TV and Film production based in South Wales. As well as this they are a producer director in their own right through their production company Third Time Lucky Productions. Follow them on Twitter: @AndrewCreak

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